Bird house



Oct. l, 1957 D. H. INGHRAM BIRD HOUSE Filed Dec. 11, 1955 DBY IINVENTOR.

United States Patent() M' BIRD HOUSE Dudley I-. Inghram, Omaha, N ehr.

Application December 11, 1953, Serial No. 397,548

2 Claims. (Cl. 119-23) This invention relates to Wren houses and more particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a wren house which is more cool inside in the summer sun.

Heretofore Wren houses have been made without regard to the absorption of heat from the sun. Consequently, whenever such houses are placed in the sun wrens do not ordinarily choose to occupy them.

It is an object of this invention to provide a Wren house one sidewall of which is finished with a highly reflective color, such as White paint. This side is placed toward the south, so reflecting the heat. Also this vertical side tends to permit the heat to glance off inasmuch as it is placed at an angle to the rays of the sun.

A further object is to provide a wrenhouse, the major portion of the roof of which is inclinedly disposed with respect to the vertical with such an angle that the roof does not receive the rays of the sun but is substantially parallel with the rays of the sun. In this way the suns rays tend to glance off of the roof and are not received by the roof directly.

Another object of the invention is in the provision of an inside perching ledge. Outside ledges have been placed on wrenhouses before although an inside perching ledge is my conception. I have found that the female Wren, during setting, will not allow the male Wren to enter the wrenhouse. This is because ordinarily the male Wren must get right into the nest with the female Wren. This she will not permit and will drive the male Wren away.

I have found that by providing an inside porch in the wrenhouse disposed extending inwardly beneath the entrance opening the female Wren will then permit the male Wren to enter the house and stand on the porch in inclement weather.

A further object of the invention is to place the horizontal porch members in positions extending above the low side wall so as to create an opening between the top of the low side wall member and the roof for ventilation. This has the advantage that ventilation is achieved without special operation for providing it. It has a further advantage in that the ventilation is in an ideal position underneath the roof and sheltered from the rain.

Still another object of the invention is to provide ventilation openings in the high sidewall disposed spaced a short distance beneath an overhanging portion of an awning roof. In this position these ventilation openings are protected from the rain while they are spaced suiciently below the awning roof to permit air currents to pass therethrough for adequate ventilation. f

Yet a further object of the invention is in the provision of an easily removable roof so that if the Wrens cease to occupy the house the roof can be removed for finding out why they have left. I have discovered that they leave for many reasons, wasps building nests in the house, sharp objects being built into the nest by the wrens and the like. Wrens have a weakness for shiny objects, such as nails and the like, and put many of these into Patented Oct.v 1, 1957 ICC the nests, sometimes in positions uncomfortable for the Wrens.

Still a further object is to provide a wrenhouse having many right angle joints in the construction providing a great rigidity and strength.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide cleats extending across the grain of the roofboard to prevent warping.

In general, it is an object of my invention to provide a Wrenhouse designed for the comfort and requirements of the Wren.

Other and further objects and advantages of present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselves as the drawnigs are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in which the principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an end View of the Wren house of this invention shown with its vertical side turned toward the sun.

Figure 2 is a side View of the house shown as seen from the lefthand side in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of the Wren house of this invention as shown with its roof removed.

Figure 4 is a view-in-section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The bird house of this invention is especially designed for wrens and has a bottom member 10 preferably of rectangular shape, the member 10 forming the bottom of a nest receiving portion of the house.

The nest receiving portion further has end Walls 12 Whi-ch extend vertically upward on each end thereof and are attached to the bottom member 10.

Side members 16 and 18 are provided, these preferably extending from the bottom member 10 upwardly and being attached to the end Walls 12 for forming a rectangularly shaped nest receiving portion of the house. The upper edge of the wall 18 is horizontal and is of preferably the same height as the height of the end walls 12.

The side wall 16 extends on upwardly past the end walls 12 a great distance so as to support the roof.

On top of the end walls 12 are ledge members 20, each of which rests upon the top of the side wall 18, and form parts.

Above the ledge members 20 are end wall members 26 which are preferably in the shape of a right triangle with the hypotenuse preferably at a 45 degree angle with respect to the sides. The end wall 26 rests upon the ledge members 20 at the center thereof whereby each member 20 forms an outer porch 30 and an inner porch 32.

It is on the inner ledge 32 that the male Wren can stand or rest at times when the female Wren is setting in the nest below. The end members 26 have entrance openings 36 therethrough in sizes for receiving a Wren but too small for their enemies the sparrows.

The upper edge of the side wall 16 .is beveled as shown at 40 at approximately 45 degrees and in an opposite direction to the inclined edges to the end `walls 26.

The roof comprises a roof board 50 forming the major portion of the roof. The roof board 50 is prevented from warping by cleats 52 fixed to the underside thereof. The cleats 52 preferably extend downwardly in parallelism with the upper edges of the end walls 26 and rest upon the upper edge of the side wall 18. Each cleat member 52 being elongated and resting at its upper edge against the inner side of the top of the higher side wall 16. As best seen in Figure 1, the cleats 52 can be disposed at the center of the house between the walls 26 and in this position rests upon the upper edge of the wall 18 between the porch members 20 to the end that two openings exist dened by the upper edge of the Wall 18, bythe cleats 52, by the inner edges of the porch members 30 and by the underside of the roof member or roof board 50. These openings are important for ventilation and the numerals 7) and 72are placed in Figure 3 to indicate their position.

The roof board is further provided with other cleats on its outer side. These cleats are preferably disposed atvits ends and extend upwardly and downwardly in parallelism with as seen at and 82. The cleats. 52, 80 and 82 are xed to the roof board S0 in many places for preventing it from warping.

The roof further includes a short roof member which can be called an eave member and which extends at a 45 degree angle downwardly from the root board Si) across the upper wall and outwardly a short distance sucient for protecting a group of openings 92 disposed in the upper end of the side wall 16 from vertically falling rain and snow.

The roof member 90 is also provided with end cleats 94 for preventing it from warping.

The house can be provided with a chimney 96 for purposes of decoration and the roof boards 50 can be attached in place by means of set screws 100 and screws 102 disposed on each end of the roof board and on each side thereof outside of the end walls 26 and downwardly extending whereby the screws 102 are driven horizontally into the end walls 26 and can be removed for opening the Wren house for inspection of the interior.

The side walls 16 and 18 are preferably beveled inwardly as shown at on the lower ends thereof and form the outer edge of each ledge member 20 inwardly to the bottom of the adjacent matching porch wall 12.

In this way it will be seen that material is saved and the appearance is enhanced.

It is important that the wren house be constructed with all inclinations at the angle of 45 degrees for a maximum of ease of assembly, minimum of cost, and a maximum of strength.

In operation the wall` 16 is turned toward the sun. In this position, some direct rays of the sun, as illustrated by the arrow lines in Figure l, completely miss the vmajor portion of the roof,` others, as illustrated at 132,

harmlessly strike the eave portion 90 of the roof and glance off, and still others strike the outside of the wall 16 at such a downwardly inclined angle as to assure a considerable reflection as shown by the arrow lines 134. The outside of the side wall 16 is preferably painted white and shiny paint is best for a maximum of reflection.

Cross ventilation is provided along the arrow line 200 through the openings 92 and outwardly through the openings 70 and 72.

As thus described, it will be seen that the wren house described accomplishes the above stated objects of this invention.

From the foregoing description it is thought to be obvious that a bird house constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and` it will also be obvious that my invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice.

I claim:

l. In a bird house having an entrance opening through a side thereof, the provision of an inside ledge member beneath said opening and on the inner side of said wall on which the male Wren can stand at times when the female Wren is setting, said ledge member forming a part of the bottom of the bird house and said house having a recessed portion below said ledge for receiving a nest, said ledge being at least substantially as wide as the said `entrance opening in the birdhouse whereby the ledge can be comfortably used;

2. In a bird house having an entrance opening through a side thereof, the provision of an inside ledge member beneath said opening and on the inner side of said wall on which the male Wren can stand at times when the female wren is setting, said ledge member forming a part of the bottom of the bird house and said house having a recessed portion below said ledge for receiving a nest, said ledge being substantially as wide as the said entrance opening in the bird house whereby the ledge can be comfortably used, said bird house having ventilation openings on opposite sides thereof for cross-ventilation, the roof of said bird house being disposed extending outwardly from said openings for protecting said openings from vertically falling rain or snow, said roof being inclined at about forty-five degrees and said openings on one side being spaced vertically above the openings on the other side whereby on 'days of no wind heated inside air will escape out of the upper openings outside causing air to `be drawn through the lower openings and to ow directly across and ventilate said `bird house.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

